Tick tock

For a long time (30+ years) we have had a chiming wall clock in the living room, nothing fancy or expensive. We stopped winding the chimes because N found they drove him crazy (a short trip at the best of times). Recently the clock has been losing time in a major way, maybe 10 minutes a day, causing us to miss the first 10 minutes of NCIS, obviously a serious oversight. So I decided to look into getting another clock, and bid and won a nice clock of similar type on ebay. And THEN! in a lightning moment of insight that has long been the hallmark of my cerebral faculties, it occurred to me that a pendulum clock can be slowed by lengthening the pendulum, and sped up by shortening the pendulum, and for this very purpose, there is a little adjustment screw on the end of the pendulum rod, to move the weight up or down. So viola! the clock now keeps perfect time again.

But the new clock...when it arrived, the minute hand was unattached, the top of the case was broken, and the whole thing is, well, a mess. How do people get photos to post on ebay that make their stuff look BETTER than it really is? When I take photos for similar purposes, the newest slickest most perfect condition item looks like I unearthed it at the dump, dusted it off, and put it up with a reserve bid of $$$ dollars! Anyway, there is an actual CLOCKMAKER locally, who didn't bat an eye at the battered clock, and in 8-10 days I should have another, smaller, sweeter chiming clock, which I will try out in the dining room. The clock guy says this one dates from 1900 or so. Will post an "after" picture, but here is the photo for the eBay "before" listing:






Favorite bumper sticker: "CAUTION I swerve to hit cars at random"

Little Progress

This post is going to feel a little different from those in the past. My therapist and I decided to drop our sessions for a while. I have been drifting, just visiting while I am there, and while that is enjoyable, it didn't really get me any further along in my search for peace and ---could it be?? ''a modest modicum of happiness?''

Currently, my major problem seems to be finding the get-up-and-go to accomplish anything, and for the first time in my life, I can't blame the pressure of my professional career work. Indeed, the lack of structure of any given day seems to lead me to take long naps while the laundry is slowly gaining sentience, I think, as it does bulk. Granular white powder seems a weak defense. Dinner has become a fairly slap-dash affair, we fill our plates with what's on offer, and scatter to the four winds to eat it. Lots of paper plates to follow, then to be stuffed into bags and hauled out to the curb to disappear quite early in the morning. We frequently seem to run out of spoons and table knives, i don't quite know why.

The dogs, all 200+ pounds of them seem to revel in the fenced area they share with the horses. I do wish they would stop splashing in the water troughs,making them too mucky for the horses to drink. In retribution, the horses occasionally leave a fecal decoration in their water buckets, so I guess it works out fair.

As far as golf goes, N decided we might benefit from a home pitching cage to practice driving. The kit arrived, but we are to supply the metal supports for the frame. N and son went to Lowes and had them cut to length, but alas! The Subaru Forester was a wee bit shy in the length department, and so the metal poles broke the windshield. $200 repair. I"m sure the neighbors will be endlessly entertained. N is pretty good. But I keep thinking of all those years I bowled on a ladies league, week by week. I even came in on weekends to practice. I think my all time high game was 135. My average at the start and the end were the same...105.

I think I may just be the cart-driver.

New bumper sticker: Draft SUV drivers First!